


Voyager

by Kandiszucker (whatwhy)



Category: League of Legends RPF
Genre: Drama, IN SPACE!, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-29
Updated: 2017-12-29
Packaged: 2019-02-19 20:44:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,778
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13131822
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/whatwhy/pseuds/Kandiszucker
Summary: A routine mission goes wrong and suddenly Rasmus has to fear for his boyfriend's life.





	Voyager

**Author's Note:**

  * For [LanadelBeyoncePuncher](https://archiveofourown.org/users/LanadelBeyoncePuncher/gifts).



“Houston?”

Rasmus looked up from his monitor to the speaker in the corner.

“Houston?” came Mads’ voice again. Even though the radio distorted it, it was as smooth and deep as Rasmus remembered it. “Can you track the cargo vessel?”

“Can’t you?”

“No. The stupid docking system refuses to operate.”

“In what sense?”

“I can’t see anything.” Mads sighed. “The monitor I’m supposed to track it on is only showing static.”

“Are you getting telemetry from the cargo vessel?”

“No. Well, the docks are but they’re not doing anything with it.”

“Can you still remote control the vessel?”

“No clue. I don’t know where it is. I also don’t want to fuck up its trajectory.”

“Mads, its trajectory is gonna fuck you up if you don’t do anything about it.”

He heard Mads swallow. “Jesse is looking for it through the window.”

There was a shout in the background.

“Has he found it?” Rasmus asked.

“Yes. It’s - it’s so fast. It’s maybe two hundred meters away.”

Rasmus swore. “Hit the braking thrusters.”

“It’s still too fast. It’s going to hit us.” Rasmus knew Mads was trying to hide the shakingnof his voice, but he still heard it.

“Make it go all the way to the left. Quick.”

“Okay.”

“Is it responding?”

“Jesse says yes.”

“Whew.” Rasmus sank back into his chair. The crisis was averted. The old cargo vessel would return to Earth’s atmosphere and burn up sometime soon, and NASA would send out another one. Enough time for him and Mads to smooth out the aging docking system’s hiccups and figure out what was causing the monitor to stop working. Even though the space station was still going strong, it was well past its projected life expectancy, and it showed. Boy did it show. The solar panels barely managed to power the main computer and the life support system. The metal hulls were worn out and no one knew for how much longer the seams would stay together. The computer systems glitched out more and more often. The goddamn docking system was a pain in the ass.

The space station’s successor was in the works, and Rasmus was counting down the days until it was finished. Until it was launched. Until he didn’t have to pray every single day that the electronics upon which Mads’ life depended would make it just a little bit longer.  
But that didn’t matter now. Mads and Jesse were safe for a little while longer.

There was a deafening bang over the radio.

Silence.

Then metal scraping.

The pressure alarm siren howled at the top of its wire lungs.

“Mads?” Rasmus bellowed into the microphone. “Mads? Jesse? Anyone?”

The siren continued blaring. Then, suddenly, the contact broke off.

Rasmus sat in silence. His heart was pounding against his ribs. His hands trembled and sweat glistened on his forehead. “Mads!” he screamed again.

No answer.

Paul and Martin, his colleagues, stared at him from their desks. He barely noticed it. He frantically checked the station’s telemetry for cabin pressure, tank pressure, anything that might have told him there was a chance for Mads and Jesse to still be alive.

But there was nothing.

Martin and Paul had gotten up from their desks and stood behind Rasmus. There was a warm hand on Rasmus’ shoulder.

“I’m so sorry,” Martin murmured.

Rasmus didn’t respond. He could only watch the monitor and the flat lines and zeroes on it.

“We know how much Mads meant to you...”

Still means, Rasmus thought. It was impossible. Mads couldn’t have died just like that. He had to still be alive. He had to. But there was still no signal from the space station. Had the cargo vessel hit a fuel tank? Had the whole thing gone up in flames? Or maybe the vessel had fractured the hull and sucked all the air out into space. Mads choking to death in the interstellar void... Rasmus knew what happened to people in a vacuum. It wasn’t pretty.

“Rasmus, look!” Paul shouted and jabbed his finger at the monitor. “We’re getting a signal again!”

The radio crackled.

“Houston?” Mads cleared his throat. Apparently the siren had calmed down.

“Mads! You’re alive!”

“Jesse and I are okay. The station itself seems alright too, but you should know that better than us.”

Rasmus checked the telemetry data. Everything looked fine. “Did the cargo vessel damage anything at all?”

“Must have. The main computer just died and came back to life shortly after. Maybe it hit a solar panel or two. Jesse and I are checking it out.”

“If that’s what’s wrong, you two can’t stay there. At least not until the solar panels arenfixed or we bring backup,” Martin said.

“Solar panels are a-okay,” Jesse said. “But I think...”

The radio crackled again and the room fell silent once more.

“Telemetry still working?” Paul asked.

“Looks like it. Oh, now it cut out.”

“See if there’s anything wrong.”

“Batteries are charged... All solar panels are operational, except the one on the Courage module. But we knew about that one. Hm...”

“Maybe something’s wrong with the wires?” Martin suggested.

“God, I hope not. That’s gonna be impossible for them to fix.”

All three of them stared at the monitor which only showed zeroes and flat lines again.

“I wish he’d just come down already,” Rasmus murmured. “His mission has been going on for long enough already.”

Neither Paul nor Martin replied, but Martin squeezed his shoulder more tightly.

Rasmus kept glancing at his watch. Half an hour must have passed until the first numbers that weren’t zeroes appeared on his monitor, and another two minutes before the radio crackled again.

“What I wanted to say before I was so rudely interrupted,” Jesse said, “is that the station is spinning. The collision knocked it off kilter and now it’s rotating. The solar panels keep moving in and out of the shade. That’s why the power keeps cutting out.”

“Ah,” Rasmus said. “Fuck.”

“Is that it?” Paul asked. “That can be solved.”

“Also, the antenna of the docking system got torn off,” Mads said.

“Like, off-off?”

“It’s still hanging on by a thread. It’s gonna fall off if we don’t fix it soon.”

“Food and water supplies are gonna last us another month tops. We kind of really need a working docking system,” Jesse added.

“You’re not going out to fix it,” Rasmus insisted.

“Yes I am.”

“Mads, don’t be an idiot. You have no idea if you can get back into the station if you fuck up and the antenna is gone.”

“I won’t fuck up.”

“Mads, please. This is too dangerous.”

“What else am I supposed to do?”

“Come back home.”

There was a heavy silence.

“Please,” Rasmus said.

“But the station...”

“Fuck the station. It’s scrap metal at this point. Seriously, it’s gonna deorbit sometime in the next two years anyway. Don’t risk your life for shit like that.”

“Except that ‘shit like that’ is living in space.”

“Living being the keyword here.”

Mads sighed. “This may be a bit difficult to understand if you’ve never really been in the orbit, but... this has been my dream ever since I was a little boy. And when I went up here for the first time, I knew I might lose my life. And you know what? I’ve accepted that fact. Because being up here is worth my life a thousand times over, you know?”

“No, I don’t know. I want you here. Please.”

Mads sighed again.

“Don’t go out. Don’t you dare.”

There was no reply.

“Mads? Don’t try to fix the fucking antenna. Do you hear me? Mads! Come back home!”

Rasmus could only stare at the monitor helplessly as the connection died again. Why was the station spinning so slowly? The minutes didn’t seem to pass. Martin’s grip on his shoulder tightened as they all tried to convince themselves that Mads had been reasonable and stayed on the station.

But they knew him better than that.

 

“Hey,” Mads finally said when the connection came back to life.

“Mads, where are you?”

“In space.”

“With the station around you, I should hope.”

“Well...”

“Mads?”

“I’m outside. I got the antenna.”

“You’re a fucking idiot!”

“I know.”

“We can’t push the station back into its original position while you’re out there.”

“I know”, Mads repeated.

“This will kill you.”

“Might.”

“I don’t get it. You were supposed to come back down in three months anyway.”

“Three months is a long time.”

Rasmus knew. God, he knew.

“This station is more like a home to me than Earth at this point, you know?”

“I thought I was home.”

“You are.”

“Then why...”

“Because all of the research we’ve done, all of the things we’ve accomplished, the scientific data of the last fifteen years... None of that would fit into the escape vessel. And if we leave without fixing the piece of shit docks it can’t be retrieved later either. The station would deorbit and burn up in the atmosphere and everything would be lost.”

“So science is more important than your life? Or...”

“Or love?”

“Or that.” Rasmus sheepishly gestured at Paul and Martin to cover their ears. Neither of them obeyed.

“More important than my life, definitely. More important than love...”

Rasmus waited.

“I don’t know,” Mads admitted. “If I die, then...”

“We haven’t seen each other in four months. I want to be with you again before you die.”

“I want to be with you again, too.”

“I want to grow old together with you, you know? Live together. Adopt dogs. Adopt kids, maybe. That boring, peaceful shit in which neither of us might kick the bucket any day.”

“God, I want that too.”

“Then why did you leave the station?”

“Someone had to do it.”

“But not you!”

“Did you want Jesse to die instead?”

“No. God, no.”

“There you go.”

“I just wanted you to come back, science be damned. I wanted to have you in my arms again. Do you know why I work overtime like a madman? Because I get to hear your voice, sure, but mostly... mostly because this way I can make sure you’re still alive. I’m worried sick at home. It’s so empty without you. And I never know if you’re still alive. I never know if there’s an emergency. I haven’t slept properly ever since you told me about that docking system glitch the first time. Shit, Mads, what if it still won’t work even if you do fix the antenna?”

“It has to work. Jesse will make it work.”

“Are you sure?”

“I’m sure. Look, Rasmus, the station is turning away from the sun again. I don’t have much more time to tell you this, but... I promise I’ll survive, okay? I’ll live, and I will come back home in three months, and we will buy a house and live there until we’re old and gray with dogs and children...”

“I love you, Mads.” Rasmus had trouble keeping his voice steady.

“I love you too, Rasmus. And you know what?” The radio hissed. His voice was barely recognizable. “When I get back home, will you marry me?”

“Yes!” Rasmus shouted. “Yes, I’ll marry you! Mads! Mads?”

No reply.

“He didn’t hear me, did he?”

“I don’t think he did,” Martin said quietly.

Rasmus stared at the monitor, his lips trembling.

“Oh, come here,” Martin said, and pulled Rasmus into a hug.

Rasmus buried his face in Martin’s shirt, gripping tightly onto his jacket, and sobbed loudly.

“It’s going to be fine,” Paul whispered, and awkwardly patted Rasmus’ back.

“It’s going to be fine,” Rasmus mocked. “A twenty year old tin can in space, held together by spit and crafting glue, with a docking system with shoddier programming than a fucking arcade game, and Mads is only attached to it with a length of wire that might snap in half because the piece of shit is spinning. I can see how fine it’s going to be!”

Martin rocked him back and forth, as if he was trying to soothe a baby.

“He’s gonna die,” Rasmus sobbed. “He’s gonna die and I can’t do anything.”

Paul rubbed his back until Rasmus slowly calmed down.

“I’m sorry,” Rasmus finally said.

“Don’t be,” Martin said. “I don’t think we would have reacted differently.”

“What are we gonna do now?”

“Wait,” Paul said. “It’s all we can do.”

 

Rasmus leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes. Martin was holding one of his hands, Paul the other. “Has it been half an hour yet?”

“Not yet. Besides, the spinning might slow down.”

“How? There’s no friction up there. Unless we nudge it back into place it’s gonna keep spinning like a humming top.”

“Fair enough.”

They fell silent again. The first half hour passed. Telemetry returned, but no voice contact.

“Are they running out of power?”, Paul asked.

“Oh god. Mads will be locked out if they do.”

“Check their battery status.”

“Still around 70%. Another solar panel on Courage is dying, I think.”

“Should have replaced that piece of shit two years ago already.”

“Maybe they’re just running the basic systems to save battery, then”, Martin said.

“I hope so.” Rasmus watched the telemetry like a hawk until it cut out again.

 

An hour had passed. Rasmus desperately tried to conjure a daydream of him and Mads sitting on the porch of a cottage by the sea, holding hands and surrounded by dogs,  
but the harder he tried to concentrate on it, the more vehemently images of Mads outside ofthe space station invaded his mind. Mads getting hurt by debris knocked loose during the collision. Mads getting locked out of the space station. Mads’ tether ripping in half, Mads drifting into the void... Rasmus quickly gave up.

 

An hour and a half. Rasmus thought about how there would be no body to bury if Mads died in space. It would either float off into the vast openness with no hopes of ever being found again, or it would enter the atmosphere and burn up before it would hit the ground.

Mads would become a shooting star, Rasmus thought. It was almost poetic.

 

Two hours. The oxygen in Mads’ backpack would last three hours at most. If he hadn’t gotten the antenna to work again at this point, he was doomed.

 

Three hours. Telemetry returned, but still no voice contact. Rasmus felt as if he was going to faint as he scanned the data. There was no sign of the dock doing anything.

“It’s over, huh?” Rasmus said, more to himself than to Martin or Paul.

They didn’t reply.

Silence fell over the room again. Rasmus felt strangely calm. Mads was dead. He should have been crying and screaming and causing a scene. But maybe he needed time to realize that Mads was gone. Maybe the pain would only set in in three months, when Mads didn’t return.

Eventually, Paul asked, “So who’s gonna write the report on this?”

Rasmus’ and Martin’s fingers immediately soared to the tips of their noses.

“That’s unfair,” Paul whined.

“You can’t expect Rasmus to write about this.”

“True. Hey, Rasmus, are you going to take a few days off?”

Rasmus shrugged. He probably should, shouldn’t he? Even though the loss didn’t feel real yet, it would in a few hours. But he didn’t want to go home, either. The apartment was cold and empty, and his bed was even colder and emptier. But wouldn’t Mads’ absence be even more noticeable here?

Rasmus just wanted to say that he didn’t know, when the radio clicked.

“Houston?”

The deep voice sent shivers down Rasmus’ entire body, and he pressed a hand over his mouth to muffle his sobs.

“Houston, I’m back on board.”

“Oh, thank God,” Paul said.

“Are you really?” Rasmus croaked.

“Jesse, am I really back on board?”

“Can confirm, he’s back and as beautiful as ever. Fixed not only the antenna but also one of the solar panels on Courage while he was at it, the fucking madman.”

Mads laughed. Rasmus had never heard anything so sweet. “Well, it’s just an emergency solution. It’s not gonna last for eternity, so if you can, please send us another module with some solar panels.”

“Roger,” Paul said. “Anything else I can get the gentlemen?”

“Make us stop spinning already.”

 

Rasmus stayed in the control center for a long time after Paul and Martin left. His colleagues from the morning shift wouldn’t arrive for a while.

“By the way, Rasmus, I never got your answer out there. Will you marry me?”

Even though Mads couldn’t see him, Rasmus grinned at the speaker. “Yes. God, yes.”


End file.
